Land-cultivating machine



W. T. BROWN LAND CULTIVATING MACHINE April 6 3 Sheets-#Sheet 1 Filed March 3 1923 April 6, 1926."

W. T. BROWN LAND CULT IVATI NG MACHI NE Filed March 5 1923 3 sheets-sheet 2 @ff-Wig Apfil 6, 19m 1579,15??

W. T. BROWN LAND CUITIVATING MACHINE Filed March 5, 1923 5 Sheets-5heet 5 Patented Apr. 6, 1926.

UNlTED STATS WESLEY THOMAS BROWN, '0F HAMILTON, ONTARIO, CANADA.

LAND-CULTIVATING MACHINE.

Application led March 3,Y 1923; Serial No. 622,589.

To all whom t ma/ concefvw v Be it known that I, lVEsLuY THOMAS BRowN, a citizen of the United States of Ame 1ica, and a resident of the city of Hamilton, in the county of `Wentworth, Province of Ontario, Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new and useful Im` provenients kin Land-Cultivating Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in land cultivating machines and the object of the invention primarily is to provide a dewhich will loosen and cultivate the sub-soil .at the bottom of the furrowwithout mixing this sub-soil with the to-p soil turned by the plough, thus providing for the cultiva` tion of the land to a greater depth than is possible by the ploughs alone. Other objects will appear in the course ofthe fol-V lowing specification.

My invention consists essentially of a plough and a wheel provided with radially projecting cutivator blades or protuberanees disposed about its periphery, said wheel being narrower than the furrow `formed by the plough and being situated in alignment behind the plough, so that the wheel follows within the furrow andthe cutivator blades dig into the sub-soil at the botto-msof the.

furrow, as the wheel rotates and follows along the furrow, behind the plough, all as hereinafter more particularly described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. l is a diagrammatic side elevation of atractor showing the application of my invention thereto, the near tractor wheels and the near side of the tractor frame, from the point B rearwardly, being removed.

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic plan view of a tractor showing my invention applied thereto.

Figs. 3 and 4 are detached perspective views of forms of cultivator blades, which Vmay be used in my invention.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section of a spring strut used in my invent-ion.

Fig. 6 is a section on the line (i, 6 of Fig. 5.-

Fig.y 7 is a side elevation of a plunger used in the strut shown in Figure 5, looking in the direction of the arrow.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different views.

My invention is applicable to a tractor 1 which may be of any standard type and is shown diagrammatically only, in the accompanying drawings.

rEhe main frame of the tractor is indicated at 2, 3 being the front wheels and l the rear wheels.

A plough 5 is supported towards the front end of the tractor in any suitable manner.

In the drawings the support for this tractor is shown diagrammatically and consists `of a post G depending from the main frame v1ce to be used in conjunction with ploughs 2, through which post a` shank 7 carrying the plough extends, a spring S being. interposed between the rear side of the plough and the post in order to provide a resilient backing for the plough.

Diagonal braces 9 extend rearwardly from the post (i to the main frame 2.

rihc rear axle housing of the tractor is shown at 10.

Mounted within the main frame 2 is a `subsidiary frame 11. the front end of which is journalled upon the rear axle housing' 12 (see Fig. 2,).

A live axle 13 is journalled in the frame 11 towards the rear end thereof and 1ais a cultivator wheel mounted upon the shaft 13. The width of the cultivator wheel is less than the effective furrow making width of the plough, the purpose of which will presently appear. y

A sleeve 15 is rotatably mounted upon the rear axle housing 10, and 16 and 17 are a gear wheel and a sprocket wheel respectively, carried by said sleeve.

A sprocket wheel 18 is rigidly carried by the shaft 13 and 19 is a chain operatively connecting the sprocket wheels 1'? and 18.

A shaft 2O is j ournalled in the main frame 2 and 21 is a gear wheel rotatably mounted upon the inner end of this shaft'and meshing with the gear wheel 16. Y

Intermeshing gear wheels 22 and 23 are carried respectively by one of the rear tractor wheels l and the outer end of the shaft 20.

A dog clutch of standard type is indicated collectively at 24 and is slidably mounted upon the shaft 20. This clutch is operated by a lever 25. vRadially projecting cultivator blades 26 are secured to the periphery of the wheel 111 (see Figs. 1 and 2).

A transverse shaft 27 is rotatably sup- Cil lll)

ported in bearing blocks 28, which are mounted at the rear of the main tractor frame 2.

A drum is ixedly carried at the center of the shaft 2T.

A worm wheel is rigidly carried by the shaft 2T adjacent to one end thereof.

A shaft is journalled in brackets 32 and extends forwardl)4v of the tractor into proxinrit;Y to the driver-s seat 33. and is a hand wheel carried by the forward end ot this ssha'lt.

Je worin 35 is rigidly carried at the rear end of the shalt 3l and operatireljy engages the worm wheel 30.

A cable 3G has one end secured to the rear end ot the subsidiary trame 1l. at 23T and the other end secured to the drum 29.

A spring strut which is constructed much aller the manner o an ordinaigY shock :b sorber indicated eolleetivelv at This strut comprises the telescoping members 39 and l0. the member 39 being in the forni of a cylinder open at one end. and die member l0 being a plunger engaging the open end ot' the cylinder The upper end of the cylinder 3S) is eonnected to the rear end ot the main frame 2 by means ot the eye al.

il coil spring is mounted within the cylinder S9 and engages the upper end ol-| the. plunger Ll-O.

jr screw 3 is carried adjacent to the lower end ot the cylinder 39 and its inner end projects into a longitudinal slot fl-fl formed in the plunger 410.

The outer end ot' the screw 423 is formed into an eye #15.

The plunger ll() is cylindrical throughout its length with the exception of its lower end, the sides ot which are recessed at i6 to t'orm a terminal tongue el? on the plunger. ndercut shoulders (l0 are formed at the junction ot the tongue with the main portion of the plunger.

Tongues ii8 project rearwardly from the rear end of the subsidiaiw7 frame 11 and form between them a recess 49 into which the terminal tongue 47 ot the plunger is adapted to enter.

A cable. 50 has one end secured to the eye l5 and the other end carries a loop or ring 5l.

rlhis cable 50 passes freely through guides 52, 53 and 5st.

A hook is carried by the main frame 2 and is adapted to engage the ring 5l for purpose as will presently appear.

Uoditied forms in which the cultirat-or blades may be made are shown at 5G and 57 (see. Figs. 3 and 4).

The furrow formed by the plough is indicated at 5S and 59 indicates the sub-soil at the bottom of this furrow.

The construction and operation ot my in Yention is as follows.

rhe plough 5 is mounted towards the front end ot the tractor and the cultivating wheel l-l is situated adjacent to the rear end ot' the tractor' and in alignment behind the plough.

v1in employing my intention the subsidiaiwv frame l1 is lowered so that the periphery oi the wheel 14 rides upon the bottom ol the furrow 58 and it will be evident that as the tractor advances the cultiijator blades 2G will dig into the sub-soil 5) and loosen same.

In order to insure a proper cultivating" action by the wheel ll it is so e'eared that its peripheral speed is slight@v eater than the advancing speed ot the harter.

The action ot the strut ES will be elear trom the drawings and is as follows.

ll'hen the 'subsidiary Yframe ll is lull)` lowered the strut ZES is pulled l'fawrardlj.'

cable In) and the terminal "hin lhe reet il in the rnt is held in uns position rin;y [il on the lori: im

engaging the (see Fig'. l).

lli this position :ilI the, strut the rear end ol the lranie il engages the undercut shoulders (3() so that the Yl'raine ll can only rise against the uanpression nl' the .spring l2. This insures that the cultivating wheel ll will be held downwardlr lo enable the eultivator blades 2li to ordinarily penetrate the sub-soil but. due to the resiliency.' ot the spring -il-, in the event ol the wheel ll striking a rock or such like the l'rame ll and wheel lll; would be permitted to rise against the compression ot the 'spring -l-Z.

rl`he manner ol2 driving the wheel l-lwill be clear from inspection ot l and 2 and is as follows.

The shaft 2O is driven trom the main drive through the gear wheels and 223 and when the clutch 2l is engaged, as is the ease in Figure 2, the gear wheel 2l will be rotated. This in turn rotates the gear wheel 'lt and sprocket wheel ll'. From the wheel 1T the sprocket wheel 1S is driven by meansI ol the chain l) and this sprocket wheel in turn rotates the shaft lf3 and cultirator wheel ll.

rfhe drive to the wheel l-l is disconnected by discngaging the clutch 2l by means of the lever 25.

The manner of lifting the subsidiar)Y trame ll and wheel llwill now be explained.

The ring 51 is disengaged troni the hook and the strut 3l) disengages by gravit)Y from engagement with the trame ll, the strut falling into the position shown in broken lines at C in Figure l, in which position the ring l engages the 'forward end of the guide 52.

The frame ll is then raised by rotating the hand wheel 3st which. through the medium of the worm 35, worm wheel il@ and lll) Til

shaft 27 rotates the drum 29 and win'ds the cable 36 thereon so that the frame 11 is raised.

In order to maintain at all times the proper distance between the centers of the sprocket wheels 17 and 18 the sprocket wheel 17 is disposed concentrically with the center of swing of the frame 11.

The slot tt in the plunger 40 is positioned 'so that, when it is at the outer end of its stroke with the screw 43 engaging its upper end, the plunger is in the proper position for engaging within the recess 4:9 of the frame 1i, when the frame is in its lowermost position.

In Figs. 3 and t cultivator blades are shown which` are inclined diagonally across the cultivator wheel and these blades are also curved and pitched after the manner of a propeller blade.

Various modifications may be made in my invention without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims and therefore the exactrform shown is to be taken as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.

For instance my invention may be applied to practically any standard form of tractor and therefore a diagrammatic form of illustration for the tractor itself has been used and obviously the various tractor details as illustrated are immaterial.

Also various other methods of mounting the subsidiary frame l1 might be used than that illustrated.

Further other-arrangements for driving the wheel le than the chain and sprocket drive shown might obviously be employed.

From the fore-going it will be seen that I have devised an apparatus for use in conjunction with plough's whereby the sub-soil at the bottom of the furrow may be effectively cultivated thus enabling a deeper Cultivation than is obtained byV the use of ploughs alone.

lVhat I claim as my invention is:

In a machine of the class described, the combination with the main frame of the machine, of a subsidiary frame associated with the main frame and extending rearwardly from a point intermediately of the length of the main frame, said subsidiary frame journalled at its forward end within the main framev about a transverse, horizontal axis, a wheel mounted within the subsidiary frame at the rear end thereofvand rotatable about a transverse, horizontal axis, cultivator protuberances disposed about the rim of the wheel, and extending radially outu ward therefrom, means for rotating the wheel, means for swinging the subsidiary frame up and down as desired, and a resilient strut engageable between the main frame and rear end of the subsidiary frame when the subsidiary frame is in its lowermostposition, said strut comprising a cylindrical shell swingably hung from the rear end of the main frame, said shell closed at its upper end and open at its lower end, a piston tel'escoping within the lower open end of the shell, a compression coil spring within the shell and coacting between the shell and piston, means on the main frame for swinging the strut forwardly, and a terminal tongue at the lower end of the piston adapted to engage within a recess at the rear end of the subsidiary frame.

1WESLEY THOMAS BROIVN. 

